CKRC Forums

Hey thought I'd post this to continue my karting education.



What can you tell me about this tire wear? Now don't be fooled by the pic, I should have snapped it before I changed it, but this tire was just flipped tonight, so that outside edge was actually the inside edge of my front right tire.

This just developed at the last T&T. Prior to that T&T the only change I made was to adjust the angle of my steering column (see second picture, I moved the blue collar down about 3/4 of an inch.)



I measured multiple points of each rim to a stationary point on the chassis before adjusting the column to see if there was any change in the alignment, nothing changed a hair in terms of toe I'm certain. Additionally I had Joey install a brake side seat strut (so I now have 1 on each) about 30 laps before going home. (Didn't notice the wear until end of the night, so can't attribute it to the strut persay though certainly felt the second strut helped my turning for sure after a few laps.)

My lap times were by far the fastest and most consistent this last T&T and did about 100 laps (have done that before without seeing any uneven wear.)

So my thought was this was a sign I was transferring my weight better from the improved driving position, and maintaining more speed in the corners and on the basis of the track direction maybe this is why this developed? (Since all the fastest corners are left, more pressure/scrubbing on inside right through corner?)

Is this an appropriate evaluation? And should I be adjusting anything to compensate for the wear (other than flipping them?) What does this tell me about my driving (if anything and what to work on?) My pressures in the front were about 13.5 (14 in back) so far that's given me the best result but going to test higher pressures again this week.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi Cabel,

First thing I'd do is throw a Sniper alignment tool on it to check & see what your camber is like. That may have changed when you adjusted the steering.
Normally we get wear on the insides of the right tires when running the CCW direction. I have to swap my tires after each race to keep the wear consistent.
I could dial some of that out for better wear, but it would affect my laptimes. Check your camber and then go from there.

+1 for what Steve said. First thing to do would be check the camber. Then double check toe. The right side tires should wear more going our current direction CCW.

Either of you want to lend me said tool?

I thought I read/seen camber was controlled by the spindles, I'm having hard time wrapping my head around how camber could have changed as a result of moving the steering column, I mean you guys know way more than I do I just want to understand how.

Camber is the measure of how far in (negative camber) or out (positive camber) the top of the tires tip from horizontal. This is controlled purely by the angle of the kingpin which is adjust by the Pill (disc with all the holes in it). The Pill also controls the caster setting so you can adjust both. Normally, you run negative camber so the tops of the tires tilt inwards so that when you corner, the tire 'flattens out" and you get the full contact patch on the track. However, some chassis will want a little positive camber. Be aware that camber will change -sometimes quite a bit- from when you measure it on the stand to when you put the kart on the ground and sit in it !

The tire wear you are seeing is completely normal. You might be able to reduce it somewhat but you want the best performance and tires are a wear item....

I flip mine regularly to get the most life from them.

I won't be back out to the track until Sunday's race, but if you're racing, I'm sure we could borrow someone's Sniper and check it out.
Since we're running the same chassis, we could compare them, and see where you're at.
My team-mate has one, but he won't be there until the following race.

But most importantly, congrats on dropping those lap times!

Just wanted to say thanks all for the input/education, thanks Jack for the help at the track last night.